Latest US Department of Labor Statistics Bleary

The Labor department released its monthly report the other day and things don't look very good.  The overall unemployment numbers are pretty flat at 9.6%.  But the bad news is that private sector hiring did litle to offset more government job losses.  September showed a net loss of 95,000 jobs - maybe not such a big raw number, but if you were one of the 95,000, than it was big for you and for those of you that have been out of work for longer, it means more fishies trying to snap up your bait.

Some other interesting points -

  • This is the 14th consecutive month that the unemployment rate was 9.5% or higher
  • The underemployment rate - the hidden number that shows folks that have given up or work pat time instead of fulltime was at 17.1% up from 16.7% in August - yes almost 1 of 5 of you are either not working or are not working at your capacity
  • There are some bright spots - hiring and growth continues in health care, retail (this is very good - it means poeple are buying stuff), and hospitality (also very good - it means people are traveling)
  • Manufacturing and construction did not fare so well, losing jobs as we head toward the holiday season
  • Local government lost significant ground as well (minus 76,000 jobs) - posting the single biggest drop since 1981

Corporate America, seems to be feeling no ills, however - the DOW closed over 11,000 for the first time in five months and profits are through the roof, but hiring is stagnant. 

Come on corprate America - do your part to help the economy!

So, here are a few tips if you are the unfortunate 1 in 5 -

  1. Turn your resume upside down - the times of plain-jane resumes is going away.  Add some color, or a picture (not of yourself, of your work) or a graph
  2. Volunteer your time to help others - it will make you feel good, give you some purpose and help you gain some perspective - there are those worse off than you
  3. Take a few days off from your search and recharge your batteries
  4. Build up your on-line presence - join LinkedIn, launch a blog, create an on-line resume (we use VisualCV.com for our clients)
  5. Spend some time with your family - when times get tough sometimes we lose sight of what's important

Good luck!

 

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